Jett Howard ruled out for Michigan vs Purdue due to injury

Michigan will be without star freshman Jett Howard Thursday night against Purdue, a school spokesperson told Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. Wolverines coach Juwan Howard previously said he wasn’t sure if his son would be able to play after going down with an injury earlier in the week.

Howard suffered an ankle injury in Michigan’s win against Minnesota on Sunday, and his status became unclear going forward. He only played 15 minutes in that game and was later seen in a boot.

Juwan Howard said he didn’t have a timeline on how long Jett would be out with the injury immediately afterward.

“No, I don’t have any information to give you on Jett, other than, as you saw, he was in a boot,” Juwan explained. “He came back out there to the second half to support his teammates, which was great. Feel sorry for the young man because I hate missing basketball. He’s in love with the game of basketball and wanted to help his teammates on both ends of the floor.”

Jett Howard has been a key piece for the Wolverines this year and is a potential first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He ranks second on the roster with 14.6 points per game and shoots 38.2% from three-point territory.

Michigan and Purdue tipped off at 9 p.m. ET from the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.

Juwan Howard shares initial impressions of Purdue

Michigan and head coach Juwan Howard will be the latest team subjected to the basketball equivalent of stopping a runaway train on Thursday night when the Wolverines face top-ranked Purdue and dominant, 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey. Only one team — Rutgers — has beaten Purdue this year and no one, seemingly, has answers for Edey.

And while Michigan has one of the better big men in the country and someone passingly capable of marking Edey in Hunter Dickinson, a 7-footer in his own right, even Dickinson will be at best a hindrance to Edey. With the scale of the problem — both literally and metaphorically — apparent, Howard couldn’t help but joke with reporters.

“So if you have some answers for how to stop him, or help us offensively, I’m all ears,” Howard said.